Postgraduate students in Scotland taking taught courses by distance learning are to be eligible for student loans for the first time, the Scottish Government has announced.

Tuition fee loans of £5,500 are to be made available to distance learning students on taught postgraduate courses from next year.

Full-time distance learning postgraduate students will also be able to access a £4,500 living cost loan.

Last year a record 143,110 full-time students across higher education benefited were given £834.8m in support.

The expansion of support could benefit more than 2,500 students.

Further & Higher Education Minister Shirley-Anne Somerville, said: “Undergraduates in Scotland already have free tuition, saving tens of thousands of pounds over the course of a degree compared to those in the rest of the UK.

“This funding builds on that by expanding help to postgraduates to fund the cost of their fees.

“Expanding access to tuition fee loans and living cost loans could benefit up to 2,500 students across the country and enable more people to consider studying for postgraduate qualifications.

“We want to make further and higher education as accessible as possible and this positive step will help more people overcome the financial barriers to gaining new qualifications.”